Cranial nerve entrapments can be much more insidious and hard to detect than you might think. In particular, the entrapments that I often treat are creating global motor control problems without creating much local pain. The most common one that I treat is atypical trigeminal neuralgia. I treat this cranial nerve entrapment very often.
I have a recent new client who’s main complaint is heel pain, but is also dealing with some other symptoms including headaches. During the initial assessment I locked in on scar tissue from a very traumatic wisdom tooth removal over 30 years ago. The minor tingling this client was feeling in their ear and across the bridge of the nose was so mild they didn’t make it onto the list of complaints this client provided, but they were very important. These non-painful abnormal sensations (like tingling or numbness) are typical of neuropathy, and can be treated with specific nerve flosses. The heel pain this client was suffering from was mostly caused by dural tension down the right side.
The trigeminal nerve is the sensory nerve for the dura mater, the thick encasement of fascia around the inside of the skull. The dura is quite pain-sensitive and trigeminal nerve signaling is highly involved in headaches, including migraines. Specific work on the scar tissue entrapping the nerve can be highly effective at relieving symptoms. Following this with dural flossing means that the heel complaint was also targeted in the same treatment.
Complex pain issues often have complicated or hidden sources. I like to find the root cause and start from there.
